COVID-19

On March 25, Gov. Polis and the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment issued the Colorado Stay-At-Home Public Health Orders, which apply to all Colorado residents. Please review them closely to see how they may apply to your situation.

Please read the information about the order in the links below:

• Colorado Stay-at-Home Order website
• Colorado Public Health Stay-at-Home Order
• Colorado Stay-at-Home Order FAQs
• Colorado Critical Business Self-Certification Form
• Department of Regulatory Agencies Guidance on Critical vs. Non-Critical Professions

If after reading the information provided by the state you still have questions, you can contact the following:

• CO-Help call center 303-389-1687 or 877-462-2911
• CO-Help email COHELP@RMPDC.org
• Boulder County call center: 720-776-0822. Please note that we cannot provide specific legal guidance.

Reporting Possible Violations

• To report a possible violation of the Stay-at-Home order, contact the Call Center at 720-776-0822. The Center is open 8 a.m. – 8 p.m., seven days a week.
• Report a possible violation of the order online in English or Spanish
• Boulder County Public Health Enforcement of Public Health Orders

Personal Preparation

Now that the virus is actively spreading in the community, it is vital to practice appropriate wellness and hygiene activities, and maintain proper distancing between yourself and others.

Social Distancing

Maintain at least six feet between yourself and others. Six feet is about the length of a bicycle of pair of snow skis.

Continue to Take Everyday Wellness Actions

• Wash your hands frequently with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. If soap and water are not available, us an alcohol-based hand rub.
• Cover your nose and mouth when coughing and sneezing.
• Avoid close contact with anyone with cold or flu-like symptoms.
• Stay home if you are sick.
• Get an annual flu vaccine if you have not had one.

Practice Good Hygiene

• Practicing not touching your face. This can greatly reduce the frequency of potential spread. (You can even try a buddy system, where you and a friend remind each other when someone scratches their eyelid or rubs their nose.)
• Replace handshakes with elbow-bumps.
• Build healthy habits like pushing elevator buttons with a knuckle instead of a fingertip.
• Avoid sharing anything, such as e-cigarettes, drinks, etc.
• Increase regular cleaning of frequently-touched items (e.g. doorknobs, faucet handles, etc.)
• Use a cleaning product effective for COVID-19
  • EPA list of cleaning products
  • Other effective cleaning products
  • Environmental cleaning guidance

Gather a Few Extra Supplies

• Try to get an extra months’ worth of prescription medications, if possible, in case there are supply chain disruptions.
• Slowly start to stock up on enough non-perishable food to last your household through two weeks of staying at home if there is a wave of transmission in the community.

Take Care of Your Emotional Health

The outbreak of COVID-19 can be stressful for people. Fear and anxiety can be powerful emotions. Coping with these feelings and getting help when you need it will help you, your family, and your community recover.

• Learn more about healthy coping practices
• Look for tips and suggestion on our Mental Health Blog

Residents can call CO-Help at 303-389-1687 or 1-877-462-2911 or email them at COHELP@RMPDC.org to get more information and ask general questions about COVID-19. Information is available in many languages including English, Spanish, Mandarin, and more.

Guidance for Social Distancing

With the announcement of the State of Colorado Stay at Home Order on March 25, everyone is required to stay at home, except for Essential Activities

The COVID-19 outbreak calls on the Boulder County community to think creatively about how to meet everyone’s basic needs and maintain social connections while also slowing the spread of disease using social distancing practices (e.g. staying at least 6 feet away from others).

In general, stay at home except for Essential Activities as defined by the sate’s Stay at Home order. Additional details can be found in the Stay In Place FAQs. Try using technology to communicate with family and friends. When planning Essential Activities, consider these tips:

• Keep household members away from others if they’re sick. Contact their healthcare provider if you have concerns.
• Continue to take everyday wellness actions and teach your kids to do the same.
• Try to increase the distance between children by playing games that involve fewer opportunities for touching, and reminding everyone to practice of proper hygiene habits.
• Spend time outdoors. Outdoor activities are less risky than indoor ones because COVID-19 spreads more easily when people are close together in confined spaces. Daily time outdoors is important to children and adults alike. To apply social distancing, consider outdoor activities like walking, hiking, or bike riding.
• Monitor symptoms if someone you’ve been near becomes ill. If the symptomatic person is not a confirmed case of COVID-19, there is no not need to quarantine, but you should monitor closely for symptoms. If a fever, cough, or shortness of breath develops, separate from others and call your healthcare provider.
  • If the symptomatic person is a confirmed COVID-19 case, anyone who had close contact with the person should quarantine for 14 days, monitor symptoms, and notify your healthcare provider if symptoms develop.
• Talk with your child about COVID-19. As public conversations around COVID-19 increase, kids may worry about themselves, their family, and friends getting ill with COVID-19. Parents and other trusted adults can play an important role in helping children understand what they hear in an honest and accurate way while minimizing worry and fear. Some things to keep in mind include:
  • Remain calm and reassuring.
  • Make yourself available to listen and to talk. Be sure children know they can come to you when you have questions.
  • Avoid language that might blame others and lead to stigma. Remember that viruses can make anyone sick, regardless of a person’s race or ethnicity.
  • Consider reducing the amount of screen time focused on COVID-19.
  • Provide information that is truthful and appropriate for the age and developmental level for the child. The CDC has compiled “Facts about COVID-19 for discussions with children” that can be a helpful starting point.
  • Remind children about proper hygiene habits including washing their hands often.
  • Guidance for Parents when school is closed.

Guidance for People with Symptoms

Anyone with flu-like symptoms (cough, fever, difficulty breathing) should call their healthcare provider for guidance and separate themselves from others. They should NOT go to the emergency room in order to ensure hospital resources are available for those with the most critical needs.

• Guidance for People Who Are Returning from Travel
• What to Do if You Think You Have COVID-19
• State Health Department’s Role in Testing

Guidance for People Who Test Positive for COVID-19

• English
• Spanish

Guidance for Quarantine & Isolation

Quarantine

If you have been told to quarantine, or are voluntarily quarantining because you have a household member or close contact that has tested positive for COVID-19 or is exhibiting symptoms such as fever, cough and shortness of breath, follow these instruction on How to Quarantine

Isolation

If you have tested positive for COVID-19 or if you have been told to isolate or are voluntarily isolating because you have a fever, cough, and shortness of breath, follow these instructions on how to self-isolate. Isolating at home is the preferred setting.

• English
• Spanish
• Chinese
• Vietnamese
• Somali

Testing in Boulder County

Regardless of whether or not you are diagnosed with COVID-19, if you don’t need to be hospitalized, your treatment will be the same, no matter the test result. Ideally, everyone who wanted a test would be able to get one, but right now, that is not possible due to limited testing capacity.

We are working closely with our partners and local laboratories to increase testing capacity in Boulder County. Testing capacity has been impacted by a lack of availability of materials for testing, such as nasal swabs and the viral medium that is needed in order to do the tests.

Please review the testing guidance from CDPHE.

Reducing the Spread of COVID-19

COVID-19 can be especially dangerous for those at higher risk including people:

• 60 years old and older
• With underlying health conditions including heart disease, lung disease, or diabetes
• Who have weakened immune systems
• Who are pregnant

Take Steps to Protect Those at High Risk

• Guidance for Spring Break
• Anyone feeling ill should stay away from those at higher risk.
• Those at higher risk should stay home as much as possible.
• Avoid bringing large groups of people together and postpone events and gatherings. As of March 19, 2020, gatherings are limited to no more than ten (10) people by a statewide order by the Governor.
• Guidance for People Experiencing Homelessness

Long-Term Care Facilities & Nursing Homes

• Mitigation Guidance for Long-term Care Facilities
• Public Health Orders for Nursing Facilities
• COVID-19 Nursing Home Infection Control Guidance
• COVID-19 Considerations for Long-Term Care Facilities
• COVID-19 and Communal Dining
• Area Agency on Aging

Closures

We will continue to follow best-practices and our plans created with the guidance of CDPHE and CDC. This includes community mitigation actions in order to slow the spread of illness so that our healthcare system remains robust. As of March 17, 2020, the following closures have been ordered statewide by the Governor for 30 days. On Thursday, March 19, the Governor issued an additional announcement, which included salons, spas, and massage parlors. On March 26, the Governor issued a statewide Stay at Home order that includes many details on which Essential Businesses may remain open.

• Restaurants and bars
• Movie and performance theaters
• Casinos
• Gyms
• Breweries
• Coffeehouses
• Hair or nail salons
• Spas
• Tattoo shops
• Massage parlors

Restaurants may offer delivery service, window service, walk-up service, drive-through service, or drive-up service.

Plan for Closures & Changes

• Think about how you will continue to work if your child’s school is closed.
• Understand that your plans to participate in gatherings may be cancelled.
• Think through how you will take care of sick family members while trying not to get infected.
• Make plans for childcare if you become sick, or when your child is sick.
• Talk to your children about what they might expect.
• Cross-train key staff at work so one person’s absence won’t derail your organization’s ability to function.

Gov. Jared Polis has issued executive order D 2020 007, requiring all public and private elementary and secondary schools in Colorado, to close “in-person instruction” from Monday, March 23 through Friday, April 17.

School districts and the University of Colorado at Boulder have already implemented closures on their campuses to help slow the spread of COVID-19. See information from these institutions in the links below, and find a press conference with Boulder Valley School District and St. Vrain Valley School District.

• Boulder Valley School District
• St. Vrain Valley School District
• University of Colorado at Boulder

Resources for Parents with Young Children

The City of Boulder Child Care Subsidy program provides financial assistance to qualifying low- and lower-middle-income families in the City of Boulder who are not eligible for Boulder County Child Care Assistance Program, to access quality, affordable child care.

Resources for Schools & Child Care

• Early Childhood Communities
• Child Care & Preschools
• Colleges & Universities
• Educator Planning Guide
• School District Checklist

State Guidance

Governor Polis has signed a number of Public Health Orders and Executive Orders to protect the health of people in Colorado.

• Colorado Stay at Home Order (March 25)
• Reducing In-Person Workforce by 50% (March 22)
• Suspending Enforcement on Delivery of Takeout Alcohol (March 20)
• Amended Social Distancing (March 20)
• Limiting Mass Gatherings to no More than Ten People (March 19)
• Amended Notice Closing Bars, Restaurants, Etc. to Include Non-Essential Public Places (March 19)
• Closing Bars, Restaurants, Theaters, Gyms, Casinos, Etc. (March 18)
• Restricting Visitors at Long-Term Care Facilities (March 14)
• Implementing Social Distancing Measures – Mass Gatherings of more than 10 People (March 12)

Boulder County Guidance

Public Orders for Retail Food Establishments

Learn more about Public Health Orders pertaining to restaurants and food vendors.

Public Health Rules for Other Organizations

Learn about Public Health Restrictions on Golf Courses.

Cleaning & Disinfecting Hard Surfaces

There is much to learn about COVID-19. Based on what is currently known, COVID-19 spreads from person-to-person most frequently among close contacts (within about 6 feet). This type of transmission occurs via respiratory droplets. Current evidence suggests that COVID-19 may remain viable for hours to days on surfaces made from a variety of materials.

Cleaning of visibly dirty surfaces followed by disinfection is a best practice measure for prevention of COVID-19 and other viral respiratory illnesses in households and community settings.

• CDC Guidance for Cleaning & Sanitizing
• Cleaning Products for COVID-19